Scenes From A Memory
by OlgaTheNinja
Summary: A story of one man's alternative lives. A story of one man trying to find love. A story of one man who doesn't exist. AH.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Twilight**_** or **_**Mr. Nobody**_

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**Prologue**

"**Age gnaws at life**

**Without respite –**

**Incessantly; insidiously;**

**Unnerving in its non–rhythmicity…"**

-Excerpt from Mark R. Slaughter's "Memory"

A man wearing a white coat sat down in the white, straight chair placed in front of a window. Across a table from him sat another man with a deep hunch, even deeper wrinkles, and white wispy hair sticking up in different directions.

"How's it been going since the last time," asked the Man in the White Coat. The other man's eyelashes fluttered and eyelids rose so the Man in the White Coat could now see the deep green of the elder's irises.

"Do I know you," questioned the green-eyed man.

"We see each other every week," replied the Man in the White Coat, raising his eyebrows. "I'm Doctor Kaufmann. And who are you?"

"Nobody," said the old man slowly, "Edward Nobody."

"That's an abnormal name. Don't you think so?"

"Well sometimes people call me Mr. Cullen," Dr. Kaufmann made a small noise, as if to encourage an explanation out of Nobody.

"C-U-L-L-E-N," Nobody leaned in closely and confessed, "Can't remember a fucking thing!" Both Dr. Kaufmann and Nobody gave a healthy laugh.

"That was the first question I asked you," the Doctor stated abruptly.

Nobody tilted his headed and said, "I don't know."

"Can you tell me how old you are," implored Dr. Kaufmann.

"I'm 33. I was born in 1977."

The doctor blinked and asked, "Can you look at your hands? You don't have to if you don't want to."

Slowly, Nobody raised his shaking hands to his face. At the sight of his bony fingers and wrinkled skin, Nobody's eyes raised to meet Dr. Kaufmann.

"There's a mirror in front of you."

Nobody bent forward to take in his reflection. The face he had once known as his own was replaced with one made of deep creases and weathered skin."

"No, I—" started Nobody as he looked around confusedly.

"What year is it," calmly interjected Dr. Kaufmann.

"Its 2010. I'm 33," Nobody stated firmly. "I was born June 10, 1977."

"So," said Dr. Kaufmann, slowly pushing something toward the other man, "It must be you birthday."

Nobody reached for what he could now identify as a newspaper. The title headline read:

**THE LAST MORTAL TURNS 121**

"Oh— " gasped Nobody, "But I'm 33." He looked up to the doctor and then back down to the article about his 121st birthday.

"I'm 33," he stated firmly. Nobody then shoved the newspaper away from him and shouted, "I'm 33! I've got to wake up! I've got to wake up!"


	2. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Twilight**_** or **_**Mr. Nobody**_

**Chapter One: The Beginning**

"**Everything except language**

**knows the meaning of existence.**

**Trees, planets, rivers, time**

**know nothing else. They express it**

**moment by moment as the universe."**

-Les Murray's "The Meaning of Existence"

A child's true life begins with all the other children waiting to be born. The world they live in is bright and warm. No one is cruel, no child wants for anything.

When the time comes, the Angels of Oblivion float down from heaven and place a single finger to each child's mouth that makes them forget everything. This is how we get the crease above our upper lips. It's to ensure that no child will tell The Secrets, because when we live in this World Before Birth, we know the outcome of the future.

But they missed a little boy named Edward.

After the visit from the Angels begins the long, tedious process of meeting and choosing parents. Some describe what they're looking for in a child; others describe what they're not looking for. But when Edward met a young man with blond, shaggy hair and a young woman with green eyes, all the man said was, "Well, I can tell you how we met. It was meant to be. _Kismet_ if you will."

And so life with the Mother and the Father began. They would call Edward the Little Baby.

And the Little Baby would question his existence. Everything he could see was real: his mother's lips, his father's sweater. The Little Baby Named Edward could see his little hands but not himself. Did he exist?

The Little Baby began to grow and learn. And soon became the Little Boy named Edward.

He would ask questions to himself such as, why am I me, and not someone else? Why do we remember the past, but not the future?

The Mother would answer, "Stop asking 'Why?' It's complicated."

They lived and were happy for many years. They were happy until they weren't.


	3. Chapter 2: The Choice

**I do not own **_**Twilight **_**or **_**Mr. Nobody**___

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Chapter 2: The Choice**

"**Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,**

**And sorry I could not travel both**

**And be one traveler, long I stood**

**And looked down one as far as I could**

**To where it bent in the undergrowth…"**

-Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken

**Bristol, England: The Suburbs**

**1986**

One day, a day like any other, Edward went to school. He ate his lunch. He played footie in the schoolyard. He thought about the brown haired girl with a button nose and big eyes who sat behind him in class. He was dismissed from school and got onto the school bus. He climbed off the school bus at his normal stop.

But then he saw the Mother. This is quite unusual, Edward thought. The Mother never picked up Edward from the bus stop. That was just how it was.

Then he realized that the Mother had no intention of seeing Edward because she was heading in the opposite direction. She was heading into the woods.

Edward had seen other children running and playing in these woods, but his mother?

The Mother, weaving through the trees, searched for something. Edward continued to follow her, hiding behind trees all the while. And then Edward saw him. He was dressed in a tan suit and had silvery hair. The strange man and the Mother saw each other and rushed together. They embraced. Kisses were exchanged. Hushed voices said, "I've missed you," and, "I can't wait until we're together at last…"

Finally, they departed and Edward was left with a deep confusion. The Mother and the Father were supposed to be together, not the Mother and another man. Weren't they?

The Tan Suited Man turned away and walked further into the woods. Edward followed.

He could see an opening in the tree line where the man was headed. Edward knew this place, and apparently so did the man. The opening led to a large pond, secluded because of the forest surrounding it. A single dock had been built so that someone might have a place to fish from or a place that children might dive off of.

But on this once normal day, all Edward could see was a little brown haired girl skipping rocks across the glassy surface of the pond.

"Bella," called the strange man, "Honey, its time to go."

The little girl skipped her last rock and then hauled herself up from the edge of the dock.

Bella. Bella with the button nose and big eyes. _His_ Bella, Edward realized.

One minute he was watching Bella walk toward the strange man; the next Edward was all alone in the woods.

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The Father didn't know if he could hurt any more than he did at this moment. The Mother didn't know if she could get away soon enough. Edward knew the answer to both of these questions.

But instead of Edward's parents asking him the question which he knew the answers for, they asked him another. They asked him a question with an impossible answer.

"Edward, would you like to stay with your father or come with me?"

He looked between the pair, eyes shifting back and forth between the two faces. Edward opened his mouth but then closed it again.

He glanced down at their joined hands and muttered "I—"

Before Edward could say anything more, the train's whistle interrupted him. Both parent tightened their grip on Edward's little hand. The Mother looked up but the Father kept his gazed trained on Edward.

"So have you decided, Edward?" asked the Mother, looking back down at him.

The train chugged into the station and Edward still hadn't given them an answer yet. Soon, the other passengers who had been waiting on the platform began filing into the cars.

"Edward…" said his mother. She let out a disappointed sigh, dropped Edward's hand, and walked away from him down the platform.

Panic-stricken, Edward began glancing back and forth between the Mother and the Father. One was walking away and the other was staring at him with a deep unhappiness.

Edward watched as the Mother glanced back at his father and him and began climbing onto the train. The conductor made the last call as the train began to move.

Suddenly, Edward took off. The Mother, seeing the abrupt movement out of the corner of her eye looked again at son, expecting two find them still holding hand on the platform. Instead she saw her son, wild hair made wilder by his running. The Mother gasped and then realized that the train might be moving to fast for Edward to catch up.

But he was running, harder than he ever had in his life. And the Mother stretched out her hand and shouted the word, run, again and again at Edward. But he couldn't hear it. He could only hear the steady chugging of the train and his own frantic breaths echoing in his ears.

Their fingers brushed and then their hands connected. The Mother pulled her son onto the train, hugging him as it sped away.

But what if the Father had chose to call out to Edward rather than remaining silent, making Edward pause for a moment to look back at him. And what if Edward's shoelace broke because the company had made bad quality shoelaces. And what if Edward had lost his shoe because of the faulty shoelace. He would never have been able to reach his mother in time and would have remained there on the train platform with his father.


	4. Chapter 3: Interview Part I

**I do not own **_**Twilight**_** or **_**Mr. Nobody

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**Chapter 3: Interview- Part I**

**"Between going and staying the day wavers, **  
**in love with its own transparency. **  
**The circular afternoon is now a bay **  
**where the world in stillness rocks...****"**

**-****Octavio Paz's "**Between going and staying the day wavers"

**June 11, 2098**

**New New York, Mars**

"Wait, I don't understand. Did you stay with your father or go with your mother?" asked Dalton Henry, columnist of the New New York Times and current interviewer of Edward Nobody. With a nervous but determined mindset, Dalton had stumbled into the room where Nobody had been resting to conduct a forbidden and secret interview. He had brought a "borrowed" voice-recording machine from the University's Archive Museum and was currently document Nobody's every word.

The latest of Nobody's narrative had been about the separation of his two parents and the resulting choice he had been forced to make.

Nobody scratched his head, as if even he didn't know. Had he gone with his mother, or stayed with his father?

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**Bristol, England**

**1986**

On the train, Edward rested his head on The Mother's lap while she stroked his hair.

And on the platform, Edward gave one last look at the disappearing train before turning around to The Father. As they walked away hand in hand, Edward asked, "Daddy, is this my fault?"

"Of course not, darling. Its my fault."

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We cannot go back. That is why we cannot make choices because as long as we don't choose, _everything_ remains possible.

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**I am so sorry for the late update.**

**And thank you for sticking with me. I know its been a slow beginning but hopefully things will start to pick up.**


	5. Chapter 4: Life with the Father

**I do not own **_**Twilight **_**or **_**Mr. Nobody**_

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**Chapter 4: Life with The Father**

"**In September I remember**

**I remember her all over**

**She was perfect I remember**

**in her body, mind and soul…"**

**-Sean Joyce's Sweet Nicole (A sweet but faithless lady)**

**June 11, 2098**

**New New York, Mars**

"Do you remember what the world was like before apparent immortality?"

"What?" Nobody's eyebrows rose in question.

"The endless renewal of cells," Dalton answered, "What was it like when humans were mortal?"

"We ate. We smoked. We broke laws. We did everything we can't do in this dump and it was wonderful."

"And what about s-s-sex? Before it became obsolete? What was it like?"

The corners of Nobody's mouth turned up in an impish grin. "We screwed! Everyone was always screwing. We fell in love. We fell in love."

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**Bristol, England: The Suburbs**

**1993**

Edward's life with his father passed by in a dull blur. He would get up in the morning and make breakfast for his father then make lunch for himself. He would wake up his father, and then try to carry him down the stairs. And then he would leave for school on his motorbike.

Edward's father's life passed by painfully. He would try to fall asleep at night but only manage a few hours right before sunrise. He would tolerate Edward caring him down the stairs each morning even though he could barely stand his ensuing shame. And then he would watch Edward leave for school and resign himself to another day.

Edward's father had become wheelchair-bound after an accident involving a leaky roof and slippery shingles. And only Edward was left to take care of him.

Because taking care of his father was almost full time job, Edward was left with very little time to spend with his friends. So by the time Edward turned 16, the few friends he did have no longer talked to him and Edward was left to himself.

The only escape Edward had was writing. He wrote of a man living on Mars.

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On a rare fit of sociality, Edward decided to go to a party with hopes of seeing a certain blue eyed girl.

So he went and sat down at the edge of the dance floor, his eyes constantly shifting back and forth across the room in search for _her_. But he waited, and waited, and waited.

Finally, Edward saw shine of golden hair through the dark room, like a lightening bolt during a storm. He kept watching and saw her laugh. Edward was able to catch her eye for a mere second before she looked away.

Then she whispered something into a boy's ear, a boy who had a sleek leather jacket and had just been kissing another girl. _She _couldn't _be __with that__ guy?_ Edward thought. But he made no move toward them.

The leather jacket boy said something in return. At that, Edward's blue-eyed girl looked straight ahead and began walking across the crowd. But after a few steps, she crumbled to the floor and began writhing and screaming. Even through the heavy bass of the music in the room, Edward could hear the girl's insistent screams that she wasn't crazy.

But still Edward didn't move.

Before he knew it though, the blonde girl rose and walked briskly toward him. Edward looked around, wondering to himself whether or not she was really coming to him and not someone else.

When he looked forward again, he was eye level with the bottom of a jean skirt. Edward shot up from his seat and came face to face with the girl, nose running and eyes watery. He swallowed thickly and consequently was unable to hear what she said. "Excuse me?"

"I said, 'Shall we go, Edward.' This is such a bore."

Then she strutted away. It seemed that Edward had no choice but to follow her.

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Outside on the street-curb, the blonde girl once again began weep. Edward slowly approached her, like approaching a wounded, wild animal.

_Which she it_, Edward thought, _like a wounded lioness_.

Slowly he sat down beside her and reached in his pocket for a handkerchief, which she refused to take.

"Try it," offered Edward. She huffed, but took it and gently dabbed underneath her eyes.

"How do you know my name," asked Edward. He was more than surprised that she even knew he existed.

"We go to the same school," replied the girl giving him a little smile, "You never notice me. You never notice anyone."

She looked away and then quickly scrambled to her feet and began walking away. Edward followed closely behind. She turned around suddenly and nearly bumped into him.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Edward was left speechless with surprise.

"Well, are you queer," the girl implored. "Why don't you have a girlfriend?"

"I don't know. I— don't want one."

She looked down then and gave a small sniff.

"Tell me about yourself," she said suddenly, looking back up at him again. Her request was only met with silence.

"Oh, say something…" she pleaded, walking backwards.

She turned around and began quickly walking away, head down.

"Gravity on Mars," began Edward, "Is .38."

The girl stopped so Edward went on, "That's 3 times less than on Earth. The ground is covered with an ionoxide dust."

She gave a little huff and turned around. She gave a disbelieving shake of her head before whispering, "You're amazing."

Louder she said, "Raise your hand and swear."

"Why?"

The girl looked directly at Edward and said firmly, "Promise me that if I die, you'll bring my ashes to Mars."

"It's estimated that travel to Mars would take 6 to 8 months…"

"Say 'I swear'," ordered the girl, rubbing the handkerchief between her fingers.

Edward pulled his hand out of his pocket and swore. She gave a satisfied nod and a little smile. "We were neighbors when we were little," she said, twisting back and forth. It was almost girlish in comparison to her earlier outburst.

When she started to walk away again, Edward followed.

"It's Rosalie, or Rose," she said, looking over her shoulder, "Don't you remember?"

"Rosalie," Edward stated in agreement.

Edward did remember. He remembered a little girl with long, straight blonde hair in a blue dress.

Rosalie stopped and she and Edward were face to face again.

"Anyway," Rosalie glanced at Edward and whispered, "I remembered you."

She slowly took two toward him, looking up at him under her long eyelashes. Edward leaned his head down, lips parted and green eyes staring directly into her blue ones. Their lips only a whisper apart—

Rosalie quickly stepped back and said reproachfully, "You really shouldn't. You hardly know me and I am _not_ a good person."

Her voice broke at 'person'. Edward doubted very much that she wasn't good.

"Why do you say that," he asked gently.

Rosalie's mouth began twisting into an unhappy frown and she looked like she was going to cry again. She opened her mouth to say something but instead let out an unhappy sob. Edward reached for her and slowly tucked her hair behind her ear.

This time, when Edward leaned down, his lips were met with Rosalie's petal-like ones. Edward ran his hand up her arm and grasped the side of her neck. All too soon, she pulled back and rushed away down the road. The street laps weak light made it hard for Edward to see her.

"Rosalie! Wait!"

"I'll call you," she shouted over her shoulder. Her words echoed through the empty street.

"You don't know my phone number!"

She took off at run, slowly fading into the darkness.

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**Thanks again for sticking with me.**

**Please review. **


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